Spring is here and this is the perfect time to start thinking about planting a vegetable garden! Growing your own produce is a good way to stretch your grocery budget and feel confident about the food you serve to your family.
To grow well, vegetables need good soil, the right amount of water, and sunshine. You can improve soil quality with a nutrient additive and you can work around too much or too little moisture by building raised beds or irrigating in dry weather, but there is no help for too little sun. So pick your vegetable garden location based on the amount of sun required for the crops you want to plant. Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers need eight to ten hours of sunshine a day, whereas greens like lettuce, spinach, and collards can do with four to six hours of sun a day. Properly spacing your garden will make working the plants easier, so design your beds well.